Walter Bagehot Quotes

The last I checked, this is an election, and in an election we play politics.

I think we should have the majority of the party's voters decide who they want as their nominee.

Whether or not your candidate wins, the crucial importance is the integrity of our voting system. You have to engage in the process in order to change it.

Iowa has long been heralded as a bulwark against the money and media that dominate the modern presidential race. Its caucus requires voters in every precinct to actually gather in a room, at one time, and listen to neighbors pitch their chosen candidates, before they are allowed to vote.

When we vote we participate in the construction of a context.

If the ballot doesn't work, we'll try something else. But let us try the ballot.

Early voting is a vital component of the electoral landscape in Ohio.

I like to bring my kids to the voting booth to show them how it works. I'll let them draw their own conclusions as to how worthwhile it is.

I believe that democracy is about values before it is about voting. These values must be nurtured within society and integrated into the electoral process itself.

The good thing about having a Republican primary is that the voters will decide our nominee - unlike the Democrats.

Some people advocate public nomination and a three-track system - allowing voters and political parties to make nominations along with the committee. These people do not want any screening of candidates, but they have not clearly defined the concept of 'screening.'

We're never going to have a perfect candidate unless Jesus Christ is on the ballot.

Instead of wasting time on proposals which are difficult to forge consensus on, such as public nomination and party nomination, it's better to focus the discussion on how to form the nominating committee and the nomination process.

I recognize primaries are difficult things. We had a field of outstanding candidates. And primaries get a little bit rough. And it takes some time for people to get beyond those things.

Every American election summons the individual voter to weigh the past against the future.

Remember, at the end of the day [election] campaigns are always about the candidates.

Our 'pathway' is straight to the ballot box, with no variableness nor shadow of turning.

You have to deal with the reality that in the political process, people are going to vote based on what they're hearing from their constituents and others.

Politics is like sausage being made. It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be.

Elections are a good deal like marriages. There's no accounting for anyone's taste. Every time we see a bridegroom we wonder why she ever picked him, and it's the same with public officials.

The world would be a better place if people stopped voting for folksy candidates they could have a beer with and started voting for people smarter than they are.

The states have the authority to change this voting system for president, right now, in fact, if they wanted, on an emergency basis, they could adopt a ranked-choice system, which simply allows you to go to the poll, and rather than rolling your dice and deciding whether to vote your values or your fears, you get to rank your choices, knowing that if your first choice loses your vote is automatically assigned to your second choice. It's kind of a no-brainer system. It works very well.

Elections are about choices. They're about distinguishing one from the other. There is a political element to that, and of course it has to do with policy, as well.

If Hillary can't win the nomination - and it's clearly very, very hard for her - she's basically a stalking horse for McCain. She's preparing the demographic ground for McCain, by getting white working-class Democrats used to (if you will) not voting for Obama.

The idea of an election is much more interesting to me than the election itself...The act of voting is in itself the defining moment.